The 9th Symphony was written by a Mason?

Ludwig van Beethoven (Bonn, 16 December 1770b – Vienna, March 26, 1827) was a German composer, conductor and pianist. His musical legacy includes, chronologically, from classical to early romantic musical period. Beethoven was the last great representative of Viennese classicism and also one of the first composers of Romanticism. His work includes symphonies, chamber music (string quartets and trios, sonatas for violin and piano), vocal music (lieder), the opera Fidelio, five piano concertos and one violin. Beethoven suffered from deafness that was accentuated over the years but continued composing no matter his condition. It is one of the most important composers in the history of music and his legacy has had a decisive influence on later music. Son of Johann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich. It received the name “Ludwig” in honor of his paternal grandfather “Lodewijk”, an excellent violinist, from Mechelen, Belgium, who settled in Bonn, Germany in 1730 and became, thanks to his musical talent, musician cut and then Kapellmeister of the Elector Clemens August of Colonia (Germany).

On March 26, 1778, when he was seven, Beethoven did his first public performance in Colonia. His father said Ludwig was the age of six, highlighting in this way, the precocity of his son; therefore, it was always believed that Beethoven was younger than it actually was. Because the musical and teaching talents of his father was limited, Ludwig began to take lessons from other teachers. His advances were significant, especially in organ playing and composition, guided by experienced musicians as Christian Gottlob Neefe.

Neefe was an important and influential teacher in their instruction and knew immediately appreciate the exceptional level of Ludwig, the method of education Neefe was very similar to that used Leopold Mozart Wolfgag with his son, who was first in forming the taste of student making contact with the best authors, so it chose the most enthused spirit. Thus Neefe became his true teacher, he taught harmony and counterpoint. Introduced in the study of Bach, Handel and Haidn. So too familiar with the great German romantic poetry and the Latin and Greek classics. Hence it is inspired by Shakespeare to write the overture to Coriolanus; lends Schiller’s Ode to Joy, who would later become part of his Ninth Symphony; composed several lieder on poems by Goethe and write a musical version of the drama Egmont where ardently sings the ideals of “freedom” and “love.”

In 1781 the company announces Adelheit von Veltheim operates turquoise authored the score is the same company director Christian Gottlob Neefe. That year dies organist of his orchestra and was replaced by Ludwig van Beethoven, who was barely eleven years old. To entice you even more, you Neefe published his first composition in 1782: “9 Variations for piano on a march by composer Ernst Christoph Dressler.” Later, in 1783, his teacher Neefe wrote in the “Journal of Music”, about his talented student, “This young genius deserves to be supported and given the opportunity to travel. It take a second Mozart if you persevere on the path started.”

With regard to whether Beethoven belonged to the Freemasonry, it is common that several of Beethoven’s biographers say the great composer was a Mason as were many composers of the time: J. Haydn, Leopold Mozart, Wolf-gang Amadeus Mozart, F . Boildieu, Franz Abt, JN Hummel, HC Litolff, GA Lortzing, C. Loewe., Meyerbeer, Reissiger, W. Speyer, L. Spohr, etc. Certainly his thought and work coincided with the spiritual and fraternal horizon of Enlightenment or Enlightenment era Germans and particularly with the ideals of Freemasonry movements, but there is no document that unequivocally supports their membership in the Order. Can some authors include in their lists as a Mason, is because they associate his “Ninth Symphony” with an alleged Masonic facet

However there is an important fact that for the period that he lived all the political, social and cultural conditions were ripe to have started in Freemasonry; also was surrounded by many Masons. Precisely in November 1792 when he travels back to the Austrian capital first thing is to work barely with two Masons: Franz Joseph Haydn and Antonio Salieri, and became known as a composer and pianist in a concert that took place in 1795 with great success.Other freemasons and illuminated that were related to Beethoven, were: Nikolaus Simrock, Franz Ries, Schall Von, Johann Peter and Johann Joseph Eichoff and one of his early teachers and mentors was Christian Gottlob Neefe, a follower of the Sturm und Drang, and one known Mason of the leaders of the Order of the Illuminati. Under his guidance he composed, in 1782-1785, a set of Variations on a March by Dressler three piano sonatas dedicated to the Elector Max Friedrich, a Concerto for piano in E flat major, three quartets for piano and strings, as well as several songs and small keyboard works.

On several occasions Beethoven used the adjective “brother” but do not know if was referring strictly Masonic terms. In a letter dated December 15, 1800 letter to his music impresario, Franz Anton Hofineister, writes: “Dear Brother!, dear brother, you stay pretty sure the friendship of his brother. Ludwig van Beethoven. “And in another letter of January 15, 1801 is directed to Hofmeister and Kühnel. But on this occasion, Beethoven never usesthe word “brother”. Finally, in the seventh adage quartet (Op. 59, No. 1) mourns the loss of a brother and writes; “A weeping willow or acacia on the grave of my brother.” The association of the term “brother” with acacia (evergreen that Masons symbolizes immortality) seems to put us in a Masonic context

We also know the interest of Beethoven by the Masonic esotericism. Thus, three ancient Egyptian inscriptions copied from the Corpus Hermeticum to read an essay by Schiller [The Mission of Moses], the glass framed and put them in his desk. Such phrases were part of the Masonic ritual inspired by Egyptian culture. The first two said:

“I Am All That Is, What Was And What Will”.

“No Mortal Has Pulled Me The Veil”.

The third inscription derives from an Egyptian rite of initiation:

.”Same Be Alone, Alone Already All Things Must Be”.

Finally, another work that could place in Masonic environments Beethoven is his ‘Ode to Joy’, an adaptation of his “Choral Fantasy”, opus 80, in late 1808. EJ Dent claims that the text expressed “mystical spirit Freemasonry of the eighteenth century, the new religion of liberty, equality and fraternity”. To compose the text of the “Ode to Joy” from the Ninth Symphony used only half of the eighteen sections of the published version of Schiller in 1803 and reorganizós freely in harmony with his own poetic vision. For Rolland, “The Ninth Symphony… combine an ardent mysticism, passionate intuitive belief in God-in-the-nature, and the moral conscience, a German mythological Theosophy nurtured by Schiller, in philosophical readings, perhaps Schelling… for his contacts with the Orientalists… Ode to Joy preaching the reign of God on earth, established by the brotherhood of man, reason and joy. “

The Ode to Joy was subject to different arrangements and versions to be declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. The last movement of this symphony was adopted in 1972 by the Council of Europe as their anthem and in 1985 was elected by the heads of state and European government as the official anthem of the European Union.

Beethoven spent the last years of his life almost completely isolated by deafness, interacting only with some of his friends through the “conversation notebooks”, which served as a means of communication. His last big hit was the Ninth Symphony, completed in 1823. In the final three years devoted himself to writing string quartets, and the Missa Solemnis. On April 13 of that year he met Franz Liszt, then aged eleven, during a concert of the Hungarian composer and congratulated him on his performance. Years later, Liszt transcribed all the Beethoven symphonies for piano and was a leading interpreter of his work. The premiere of the Ninth Symphony took place on May 7, 1824 and was a resounding success despite the technical difficulties of the work.

Three days after his death on March 29, 1827 the funeral took place. It was held at the Trinity Church, distant a couple of blocks from the home of Beethoven, and he interpreted the Requiem in D minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was attended by over 20 000 people, including Schubert, great admirer was. The actor Heinrich Anschütz read the eulogy, which was written by the poet Franz Grillparzer, the cemetery gates Währing now Schubert Park.